Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset? (1 Viewer)

[Mike*HTF]

Could this discussion be moved to an appropriate hardware section? I keep getting my hopes up for new news on the L&H set every time this thread pops up only to find it's off topic.

 

[Jack Cleveland]

Could this discussion be moved to an appropriate hardware section? I keep getting my hopes up for new news on the L&H set every time this thread pops up only to find it's off topic.

Hi- Since I asked the question originally, I am going to open a new thread in Hardware/ Audio/Video section- marked OPPO DV-980H
Sorry folks-
Back to Laurel and Hardy discussion!

 

[reconredneck]

Box set 21 Discs for $111.00 + S/H

over at dvd.co.uk...
run don't walk and get these while they last! They have hit the $300 mark on Ebay...

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Considering the exchange rate that's a steal. Jump on it if you don't have this box yet.

 

[Dave B Ferris]

I considered the advice of Brian and Mark -- and then I took the plunge.

I'll use a portion of my tax rebate to pay for the set.

Thanks to all for the good advice.

 

[Steve...O]

I spoke with a member of SONS OF THE DESERT that knows Mr. Agee and it appears from his response that nothing is happening with this proposed set anytime soon. He did say he didn't recommend upfronting any money to Agee for pre-orders as Agee was wanting people to do. In fairness, Mr. Agee's health is poor which affects his ability to work on it.
However, I can't imagine Mr. Agee is the ONLY person interested in seeing this come out. Does he refuse all offers of assistance, does he want too much money from a distributor, or is his ego so big that he wants to control all this personally? Apparently his deal with Image fell throught due to money squabbles. Surely there are other people who have the necessary expertise and interest to enable this to come to retail as something other than a garage mail order business.
Mr. Agee seemingly makes virtually no effort to keep potential consumers updated as to the status of these projects (website down, doesn't post anywhere, etc.) which adds an air of suspicion to the whole project.
Not to be morbid, but I have no idea how old Mr. Agee is or what is prospects for continued life are, but if he is indeed the rights holder of this material I hope to goodness that there is a clearly defined and legally binding succession plan with regards to the rights. If the rights become tied up in the courts after Mr. Agee's passing then some of the finest silent comedy ever produced could be effectively hidden from the masses. Likewise if the rights pass to someone with no interest in the material nor the means to exploit it then they will be buried.
Surely TCM would have some interest in showing some of these shorts as part of their Silent Sunday Night series or as time fillers. They probably can't pay much but it would give Mr. Agee some capital to work with.
With Sony finally marketing the Stooges properly to apparent great success surely the time is also right to start a similar program of L&H releases??
Sorry for the long post, the absence of legit high quality L&H short subject releases in R1 (silent and sound) continues to be a sore spot with me. Thank goodness the Fox and MGM features are out even if they're not their best work.

 

[Patrick McCart]

It seems that RHI properties are now distributed by Genius Entertainment instead of Lionsgate now.

 

[Steve...O]

It seems that RHI properties are now distributed by Genius Entertainment instead of Lionsgate now.

Please correct me if I'm mistaken, but I believe RHI only controls the sound L&H shorts. The silents are under the domain of Hal Roach Studios/Michael Agee.
It is still potentially good news though if Genius is distributing RHI. Lionsgate certainly had no interest in marketing the L&H material.

 

[Mark Y]

Not to be morbid, but I have no idea how old Mr. Agee is or what is prospects for continued life are, but if he is indeed the rights holder of this material I hope to goodness that there is a clearly defined and legally binding succession plan with regards to the rights. If the rights become tied up in the courts after Mr. Agee's passing then some of the finest silent comedy ever produced could be effectively hidden from the masses. Likewise if the rights pass to someone with no interest in the material nor the means to exploit it then they will be buried.

As far as I know, Agee is just a licensee, from the infamous Richard Feiner & Co. Supposedly, they went to Hallmark and said "we own the silents," and Hallmark said "okay." (Actually, I'm pretty sure the films originally released through Pathe Film Exchange, pre-MGM, are actually public domain, but that won't stop one from being the subject of, ahem, "legal action," if one releases them.)
Some contract dating back to the 1950s had wording in it stating that Feiner owned the rights to L&H's "non-speaking" films. That phrase has been twisted and contorted to the point where they claim the rights to "Unaccustomed As We Are" and "They Go Boom" (because at one point the soundtrack discs were missing), as well as Charley Chase's "On The Wrong Trek" and Our Gang's "Wild Poses" (because L&H have cameo appearances in which they have no lines).
Very dubious, but at least it got these films out on DVD!

 

[Steve...O]

Given that Sony has apparently struck a goldmine with their chronological Stooges releases does anyone else find it highly annoying that RHI (or whoever owns the sound shorts) hasn't followed suit?
L&H only made 40 sound shorts. They could easily be released in their entirely in two volumes:
Volume 1 (1929-1931)

1929
Unaccustomed As We Are (might be owned by Agee)
Berth Marks
Men O' War
Perfect Day
They Go Boom (might be owned by Agee)
The Hoosegow
Night Owls
1930
Blotto
Brats
Below Zero
Hog Wild
The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case
Another Fine Mess
Be Big
1931
Chickens Come Home
Laughing Gravy
Our Wife
Come Clean
One Good Turn
Beau Hunks
Helpmates
Any Old Port


Volume 2 (1932 - 1935)
1932
The Music Box
The Chimp
County Hospital
Scram!
Their First Mistake
Towed in a Hole
Twice Two
1933
Me and My Pal
The Midnight Patrol
Busy Bodies
Dirty Work
Oliver the Eighth
1934
Going Bye-Bye!
Them Thar Hills
The Live Ghost
Tit for Tat
1935
The Fixer-Uppers
Thicker Than Water
Certain of these run longer than two reels so it would possibly take more than two discs per set. Still, that's not too much to ask, is it?
Thanks for letting me vent. Maybe someday we'll get a top notch R1 L&H collection.
Steve
PS - still no news on the Agee front?

 

[Matthew H]

The Agee Project should be considered dead at this point.. the set has been put on indefinate hiatus, so who the hell knows.

Now RHI is releasing a complete Our Gang collection.

When's L&H's turn?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Is the Our Gang set going to be complete and chronological?

 

[Sumnernor]

Today in Munich, I saw that Warner Brothers has issued the black & white film "Hollywood Party" which has the very funny "egg scene" with Laurel & Hardy. The film includes the color Disney cartoon "Red Hot Chocolate Soldiers". I would expect this to be soon issued in the US. The DVD has no extras.

Also issued on 2 DVDs are the L&H film "Nothing But Trouble" and "Air Raid Wardens.

 

[Sumnernor]

Today in Munich, I saw that Warner Brothers has issued the black & white film "Hollywood Party" which has the very funny "egg scene" with Laurel & Hardy. The film includes the color Disney cartoon "Red Hot Chocolate Soldiers". I would expect this to be soon issued in the US. The DVD has no extras.

Also issued on 2 DVDs are the L&H film "Nothing But Trouble" and "Air Raid Wardens.

 

[GeorgeJA]

I thought this might be of interest here:
According to the link below, it appears that Michael Agee is very ill. It's mentioned incidentally at the very bottom of the page.
SilentComedians.com :: View topic - Little Rascals DVD Press Release + Cover Art
I wish Mr. Agee a speedy recovery.
George

 

[GeorgeJA]

It looks like this project isn't dead after all.

Here's a link to order Michael Agee's big boxset:

http://www.elevenmemories.com/products.htm

There is also an update from Mr. Agee. Supposedly, Amazon will be selling it later on.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Wow - great news!

 

[JoHud]

Looking through the lengthy "About the creator" section, I came across a bit more detail...

When the boxed sets are delivered to Amazon, they will announce the upcoming release at its $199.95 retail price (some two months thereafter) and the product will finally be available after all this time, around July of this year.

 

[Dick]

Will this set contain all of the shorts included on the now rare and expensive Image series called "The Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy: The Complete Collection"?

If so, I'm all in.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Sure looks like it